Henry gerner



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY GERNER, o-F NEW.YORK, N. Y., Assrcnon TO THE nnvnnnon) MANUFACTURING COMPANY, on SAME PLACE.

success-Fen rut-z TREATMENT OF moiA-RuBBa-msw,

SPECIFICATION. forming part of Letters Patent No; 226,057,

dated March so,- 1880.

' Application filed March 5, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it mag concern Be it known that I, HENRY GERNER, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Process in the Treatment of India-Rubber, Gutta-Percha, and Analogous Gums, which process is fully set forth in the followingspecification.

The obj cot of -m y invention is to purify more thoroughly, and in a cheaper and more expeditious manner than heretofore done, india-- rubber, gutta-percha, and analogous guins, and to convert the same into a more homogeneous mass, free from impurities, air, and moisture, with which mass is more readily and morc'thoronghly incorporated free sulphur, or sulphur in its various chemical combinations, as also pigments, colors, and all the difi'erent substances and ingredients with which such gums are generally mixed, or with which they may be mixed, for different manufacturing purposes.

The imported gum is always impure, owing to the mode of gathering and drying employed, and is often purposely adultcrated with clay, leaves, sand, bark, and the like. It is necessary that these impurities and adultcrations should be removed before the gums can be adjudged to be in a fit stateto be converted into the numerous articles of industry and commerce for which they are and can be employed/ The more thoroughly this purification is efiected the bettcr, more satisfactory, and more valuable will be thearticles produced.

At present the imported gum is usually cut into thin shreds or minced into small parts and washed by agitation in warm water, after which it is dried. The fragments are then brought vbetween iron rollers under a stream of water, and thus receive a second purification at the same time that the several parts are-rolled together into one sheet. If foreign substances arestill contained in the gum, the sheet is returned to a hopper over the rollers and passed repeated] y between them. After this i 5, cleansing and treatment the gum is kneaded on another machine, called the mill, for the purposes of expelling air and moisture and giving it greater density. That the power to work this mill is very great is evident from very rapidly .and better result,

the fact that it the drum of the mill is less than three inches in diameter it is twisted asunder, and heat is evolved during the operation to such an extent that the stream of cold water. used to wash the gum is brought to a boiling-point, and if cold water is not constantly supplied the temperature rises to such a height that the mass cannot be touched by the hand. After this the gumis further subjected to treatment in another machine, somewhat of the same'construction as the foregoing, wherein the wate'r and air taken up in the mill are caused to be expelled.

The gum, after all these manipulations, is

still not yet sufliciently dense for its various uses; To obtain the required density the gum,.

in the form of balls, is introduced into a'larger cylinder,wherc it gets incorporated into one mass, which is compressed in cast-iron molds by aid of powerfulpresses, and kept 'in this compressed state for several days.

This costly and unsatisfactory process'is of all known methods up to the present time still carriedout as the best, and is the method now.

pursued in the principal European and American india rubber factories; and it may be readily inferred how important must be a less complicated and more satisfactory process which will accomplish the end sought for, and which may be taken advantage of by following the directions I am about to set forth, to enable others to make and use my invention.

I take the imported raw gum as it occurs in commerce, and subjectit to a washing in a tub or drum or other suitable vessel, as may be desired. I prefer to use warm water at, say, a tencmerature of to 100 Fahrenheit, in. which handful of soda, to produeea quicker every fifty gallons of water. When, by this process, the outside dirt is removed, I cut the gum, on a suitable machine or machines, into minute parts-say of the size of grains.

then spread, this minced gum on flat troughs, which I place on shelves in a'suitably-constructed icehouse where-the gum is fro acute a temperature beio'wzero, or at least below the Fahrenheit freezing-point of water, when may be dissolved in, say,

it becomes hard and brittle, losing its elas 2 eases ticity, and appearing more opaque than when it is heated or when in its natural state under normal temperatures. In this frozen state the gum is brought onto a suitably-constructed mill, which is so constructed that ice can be lodged in its interior parts,,by means of which the grinding-surfaces of the mill are kept as cold as the frozen gum. In this mill the gum is rapidly and readily converted into very minuie parts, like those of flour or fine powder.

I!) 'isevident that any substance which will I freeze the gum and cool the mill may be employed instead of the natural ice described.

-When the ground gum leaves the mill it drops down into a suitably-constructed receptacle partly filled with cold water, in which the gum is agitated until it has parted with all foreign substances. The gumjs now dried by suitable means until all moisture is expelled, and is then, ina close vessel, exposed to the action of any suitable solvent, such as bisulphide of carbon, gasoline, or other of a like nature, by aid of which it is-converted into a pasty or fluid state, as may be required, ac= cording to the different purposes for-which it may be employed. i

The greater part of the solvent used may be recovered for reuse after having served its purpose of -dissolving the gum and hringingit into a homogeneous mass by constructing the metallic vessel in which the process of solution is conducted with a surrounding jacket, into which steam is conducted, which serves to heat the vessel and distill oil the solvent through a suitablyeenstructed and cooled worm or condenser connected with the vessel itself, and through this condenser it is distilled off into a closed receiver, in which it is manufacture and use.

kept for use for dissolving purposes over and over again. The dissolved homogene'ousmass 4o isthen removed from the solution-vessel and placed intoa suitable mixing and kneading machine, where it is mixedwith the required substances either for curing, vulcanization, or incorporation with pigments or colors, or. for, 43 giving body and bestowing other properties, as may be required for different purposes of After the thorough incorporation of the gum with these substances it is rolled, molded, formed, or pressed into all manner of requiredforms or shapes, eitheralone or in combination with textile fabrics or fabric and goods of any description. The-cur ing or vulcanizatioil 0f, the gum may then he proceeded with by any of the well-known used methods.

Having thusfully described my invention, I desire to claim- 1. In a process for treating india-rubber,

gutta-percha, or other like gums, the freezing 6o and grinding of the same, as set forth. I 2. The herein-described process of treating india-rubber or similar gums, consisting of first washing in warm water in which is dissolved some soda, then cutting it into small particles, then freezing, then grinding in a frigid mill, again washing incold water, then subjecting to the action of solvents in aclosed .vessel, and finally mixing with any desired substance, and manufactured or used in the common ways, substantially as set forth.

HENRY GERNER. 

